Brendan Kenny has said that he plans to bulldoze Dublin's Housing stock and replace it with houses built by private developers. There are over 43,000 people on the housing waiting list in Dublin, and the number of homeless people including children, continues to grow every day. Instead of knocking down the homes that we have, it's time for Dublin City Council to invest in public housing, so that everyone in Ireland can have a safe and secure place to call home.

We have a situation where homeless families and individuals can't move on from emergency accommodation. Where they are forced to accept substandard accommodation, when available. Discriminated against because of being in receipt of social housing supports. The housing crisis will not be resolved by the market. We need social housing now! If you know the location of an empty council property please take a picture and send it to us

The housing situation in Ireland is already a crisis. Rents have skyrocketed. The types of properties being advertised for rental on property sites are quite often below the minimum standards. Recent properties advertised on property sites include garden sheds properties with no shower or bath, properties with almost no kitchen facilities (a microwave placed on an office desk beside a bed) at well over €1000 a month. There are minimum legal requirements for housing in this country. You as a property website should be vetting all properties advertised to ensure legal compliance. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/housing/renting_a_home/repairs_maintenance_and_minimum_physical_standards.html

Rents are out of control and more and more people are finding it impossible to keep a roof over their heads. Eoghan Murphy could use his powers to bring in regulations to prohibit companies like REIT from charging sky-high rates to tenants who wish to secure their properties

Homeless people suffer more ill health than the housed population and therefore have a higher need for prescription medication. Many homeless people cannot afford the €2.50 prescription charge payable on every item. Homeless health services repeatedly come across homeless patients who cannot afford their medication and so may not complete a course of antibiotics or take heparin for a clot. They often end up in hospital because of this. Homeless people are registered with local authorities and therefore it is possible to identify individuals so they are exempt from this charge.

This is important because these three areas are in the county of Tipperary and that is where all locals have voted previously. This is a decision that they were not consulted on and which has left many people infuriated. All three areas will now be left in a situation where they will vote in Tipperary in local elections and in Limerick City for Dáil Éireann elections. This leaves all areas in a precarious situation. The economic interests of all areas are best suited in Tipperary, where local and national politicians can work together in the best interest of the areas.

The Irish Assemblies of God are selling Carraig Eden, a centre for people recovering from addiction - and the asking price is over €2 million. But, here's the thing - the promised they would sell it to the group supporting the residents - Tiglin - at only a fraction of this price. By the time Tiglin raised the money - the Irish Assemblies of God had decided to go back on their word and sell the centre for a huge profit instead. But, once the groups had raised the money and made an offer the Irish Assemblies of God decided to sell it on the private market for over €2 million instead. Here's what the resident's have to say: We are a group of past and present residents of Carraig Eden, Greystones writing to you to highlight the situation with Carraig Eden. This building has housed men of all ages, on their last stages of rehabilitation and re-entry to society over the last 10 years. The Greystones community has enabled these men to have support, re-integrate into a safe community and become valued members of this and other town’s. Our residents have become part of this community, becoming involved in the daily life and business of their town. In the last two week’s we have received Eviction notices. We would like to highlight the course of events and ask for your support in this situation. Approximately two years ago Tiglin Challenge Rehabilitation Centre in Ashford Co. Wicklow entered into negotiations to buy with the current owners, (IAOG) Irish Assemblies of God, (now Christian Churches Ireland, CCI). Tiglin had to withdraw from the negotiations as the price was increased on a number of occasions and they could not secure the funding. Another Christian endeavour, the “Save Carrig Eden Fund” took over trying to secure funds but unfortunately failed. In the meanwhile, Tiglin was able to secure the funding status they sought through Wicklow County Council and re-entered negotiations in September 2016 with IAOG. The deal was done through Wicklow County Council. As in the case of these complex deals, Wicklow County Council were two week’s late in the drawdown of their funding and IAOG pulled out of the deal. Since this time, it has become apparent that IAOG were offered 3 million from a developer for Carrig Eden. This action is resulting in up to 30 vulnerable men losing their home, we feel ours and those coming after us, hard fought rehabilitation is in jeopardy. We have been taught that if we have a problem, we go to our brother; if our brother does not listen we bring another brother to talk and see if it can be worked out. This is what we are doing, we have formed into a group and wish for our voices to be heard, we are supported by our leaders, churches and many people in the community and we now ask for your support. We are asking IAOG/CCI to come back to the table and honour their agreement with Wicklow County Council and Tiglin. That Carrig Eden continues to equip and strengthen the current and future residents who rely on this housing and its environment. “Carrig Eden is more than a house, it is a home, it is a family that take care of each other and push their siblings to strive towards their potential” .. “Without Carrig Eden, I would have been back in the area where all my problems began. Carrig Eden helped me to develop the skills needed to live, like paying rent and being independent.” “I have come from a life of addiction and homelessness, God saved me, I am on a CE scheme and volunteer with homeless and those in addiction. Please don’t take this opportunity away from me”. “ I need the people in Carrig Eden to support me and bring me through the next stages of my recovery. My chances of a new life are being destroyed and my dreams to help others like me are being crushed”. “Going through my addiction recovery has been the hardest thing in my life, but the best because I am now free from my addiction. I need Carraig Eden for its support, I have nowhere to go”. “If I don’t have Carraig Eden, I don’t have a future” “I have been able to deflect all the temptations that came my way because of the environment of Carraig Eden. I am living with people here with the same goal’s as me “I have been homeless, couldn’t read or write, I am now in education and getting my life on track. I need Carraig Eden to keep going.

Academy Walk Management Ltd., were removed from the premises of Hazelwood via Court Order around October time following a successful media campaign and eventual legal settlement. Now, the opportunity has arisen for Academy Walk Management Ltd., to purchase another 48 apartments within Hazelwood Student Village. This is detrimental to the student's welfare and well-being and must be stopped. Sign this petition. Share with your friends.

Galway City Council is planning to evict 10 families from Cúl Trá halting site in Lower Salthill, Galway leaving them homeless and with no alternative culturally appropriate accommodation.[1] This eviction would make over 42 people homeless including 22 children aged between 4 months and 10 years, some with medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis. The families were issued a notice to vacate by June 5th and Galway City Council has said it will consider court action if the ten families do not leave the site. Galway City Council has been well aware of overcrowding on Cúl Trá site for over a decade and yet no alternative halting site accommodation has been developed.[2] The Cúl Trá site was built 21 years ago to accommodate 6 families. No new halting site has been built in the city since. The 10 families that were served notices to vacate are the children of the 6 original families and have spent their whole lives living on the site. The families are part of the Salthill community with children attending local schools. One resident said that the children are the “heart and soul” of the community. If families are evicted they will be forced to leave their community and live on the side of the road without basic amenities. Kathleen Ward, one of the residents said; “The site is a fire and safety issue but isn’t it a fire and safety issue to put us out on the side of the road? We have nowhere to go”.[3] Galway City Council has proposed 3 pieces of land for temporary halting sites to address the Traveller accommodation crisis. Areas identified for the proposed sites are Ballymoneen Road, Headford Road and Westside. However, at a public council meeting, some local councillors have objected to these proposed halting sites. We are calling on Brendan McGrath to stop the Cúl Trá evictions and to use his executive powers to develop the proposed halting sites in Galway city. Notes 1. Galway City Council has a legal obligation to provide culturally appropriate accommodation under the Housing (Traveller Accommodation) Act 1998. 2. The need for additional halting sites to provide accommodation for the families at risk of eviction has been included in successive Traveller Accommodation Programmes however no new halting site has been built. 3. In 2016, in the wake of the Carrickmines tragedy, a fire safety audit of Traveller specific accommodation was conducted by The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management and a report was compiled with recommendations to address fire safety issues. This report recommended that measures to address fire safety should not be used to address overcrowding or other broader site management issues.

A Charter of Rights for Council Tenants 1. Councils should carry out regular inspections of their property and maintain a record of both complaints and inspections, as agreed with tenants. 2. The document ‘Repairs and Maintenance which are the responsibility of the Tenant’ dated 16 June 2009 must be withdrawn. There must be no retrospective consequences for any alterations. This document is biased against tenants. 3. Council tenants should have the same right to access to an Environmental Health Officer as private tenants have, with a responsible set response time. 4. All Dublin City Council property must be inspected for current ventilation standards. 5. On a short-term basis, tenants who suffer from damp conditions should be provided with a demand led conditioning machine that circulates air. All heating systems need to be up to EU standards. 6. Council tenants should have access to an independent complaints agency. This should be composed of representatives of tenants, the council and an agreed mediator. 7. The council should recognise tenant’s associations that are organised democratically and provide them with access to proper meeting facilities. 8. All council property to be inspected for fire standards, especially the installations of fire alarms. 9. Relocation of tenants in emergency situations should be short-term and should be housed in their local area while repairs are undertaken.

On behalf of the DCU Students' Union, which consists of nearly 17,000 students, we are troubled by the new updates from Campus Residences Ltd., for the upcoming 2017/18 academic year. These include; - A 9% rent increase for Hampstead Accommodation. - An 11% rent increase for SPC and Larkfield Accommodation. This is a 49% rent increase in two academic years. I know that Campus Residences Ltd., only recently took it over but an 11% increase comparable to the quality of Larkfield accommodation type is unbelievable when you take into account the quality of accommodation provided on both campuses. - An 8% rent increase in some areas of Purcell House Accommodation. - That some rooms on Postgraduate Accommodation will see a 23% rent increase. It's hard enough to find accommodation for our students and for the college to drastically increase the cost of rent for our students at a time when we're having an accommodation crisis in Dublin shows a lack of compassion for the daily student struggles. We're asking Governing Body to come down from their Ivory Tower and realise that their demands are unrealistic and unfair.

Bernie is giving a speech on June 4th which sold out after 1 minute. There are thousands of people who are willing to pay to hear him speak, to hear a voice for the people. Someone who stands up for the environment, all people and the planet as a whole. My hope is that hearing Bernie speak could spark the revolution that is needed in Ireland so we can transform our country and go back to the values it was founded on.

The housing shortage in Co. Mayo is serious. Many families are living with extended families in stressful overcrowded situations. The shortage in the rental market makes it very difficult to find suitable housing. Boarded up council houses should be renovated to house those in need. Emergency accommodation being used should be fit for purpose. To encourage the council to make progress on this, we are want people to sign this campaign to ask Local Councilors and TD's to make it there business to put housing at the top of their list. To ensure emergency accommodation being provided is fit for purpose, and to make renovating boarded up council houses a priority. Also to make finding funding for renovations a priority in the Dail. 145 council house empty as of September 2014.

Families may no longer be evicted from homes were mortgage was negotiated away from the business premises or by doorstep selling situation i.e. Broker arranged or when the right to cancel was not given i.e. a seven day cooling off period. S.I. No. 224/1989 - European Communities (Cancellation of Contracts Negotiated Away From Business Premises) Regulations, 1989.

URGENT: A family are to be evicted from their home on Ferrycarrig halting site tomorrow Monday the 20th of March if we don't convince Wexford County Council to withdraw their complaint from An Gardaí. The family have small children and the council have failed to provide suitable alternative accommodation. But, if enough of us sign the petition and send it to Wexford County Council before tomorrow - we could make them change their mind and withdraw their complaint.

T.A.R.G.E.T is a vital community service that provides literacy skills, counselling, community employment, extensive training and affordable childcare to the local community in Donaghmede. But, we have just been told that they need to be out of their premises by June - leaving the future of the project - and all the people it supports - hanging in the balance. Can you sign the petition to ask Dublin City Council to make sure a suitable home for our project is found before the June deadline.

Currently there are over 5,000 people on the social housing waiting list, with only 14 houses coming on stream in next 2 years. The council are spending approx 871,599 Euro every 6 months in Galway to house families in hotels and B&B's which is unacceptable long term and is wasteful. Also the cost of 330,000 per social housing unit, which is being discussed in GCC this wk, is outrageous and unsustainable. Approx 50,000 people are in arrears of 2 yrs or more with their mortgage half of whom are at risk of repossession this year. Where will they go ? Too many people sleeping rough on our streets every night and a huge amount of people, incl students, couples, families, travelers and single people, failing to find suitable affordable accommodation in the private sector in Galway city. Something must be done NOW !

I care about it as they dont have a life. They are cramped up in hotel rooms and being ripped off and not given a chance to life like a human. Give back to society to work and make a better life for themselves. Please dont turn a blind eye. Employ more people in this area to process applications quickly. You are destroying people's choices.

The collective known as Home Sweet Home (‘HSH’) has written to the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, and called on him to take urgent action to tackle the homelessness crisis in the State. He needs to direct NAMA to use its property portfolio to take immediate and effective action to assist the homeless. We are asking members of the public to support HSH’s initiative by signing up to the letter on-line. The government must take action now. In summary, the letter states: 1. The building known as Apollo House, in Dublin city centre, has been occupied by HSH as a last resort to provide safe and secure accommodation for people sleeping rough on the streets. 2. The receivers acting for NAMA obtained a court injunction to force all the occupants of Apollo House to vacate it by noon on 11th January 2017. 3. Whilst the receivers contend that there are enough adequate beds for rough sleepers in Dublin, Fr. Peter McVerry states otherwise on affidavit, and the most recent government statistics (released on 30th December 2016) confirm that homelessness is increasing. 4. Under section 14 of the NAMA Act, the Minister for Finance is empowered to direct NAMA to make properties under its control available “to contribute to the social and economic development of the State”.  Ireland has obligations under European and international law to provide social housing and to work towards the elimination of homelessness. 5. NAMA has ample housing stock currently under its control which can be made available, through various mechanisms, to individuals and families who are currently homeless or under threat of being made homeless. 6. NAMA is planning to build 20,000 homes in the next three years but only 10% of these will be made available for social housing despite the worst housing crisis in the history of the State. NAMA is focused on returning a profit to the exchequer at some point in the future as a priority above tacking the homelessness crisis. 7. The Minister for Finance must act now to compel NAMA to take immediate and effective steps to combat the homelessness crisis. Please support Home Sweet Home’s initiative to force the government to end homelessness in Ireland by signing this letter. You can read the full letter here: http://tinyurl.com/h7zdsvl

Myself and a number of other residents have been told that we will be evicted from our homes in the Strand apartments in Limerick because the vulture fund who bought our homes want to sell them on for a massive profit. Over 90,000 homes in Ireland are owned by Vulture Funds, which makes many of us vulnerable to evictions and homelessness. Can you stand with us in our fight to stay in our homes and for the right to safe, affordable and secure housing? We also call on Minister Coveney to amend the Residential Tenancies Act to abolish sale of a property as a ground for terminating a tenancy.

The HSE is selling off a substantial former hospital with 46 acres in Enniscorthy, Co.Wexford for a knockdown price -right in the middle of a housing crisis. It is unbelievable that one part of the public service is effectively giving away state property assets which could be used to assist in alleviating the housing emergency by donating it to the local authority / Dept of Environment for housing. The aim of this campaign is twofold: 1. Withdraw the property from sale with immediate effect 2. For the Dept of Environment to take control of the asset and to investigate the best use of the property for housing use. http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/hse-puts-st-senan-s-psychiatric-hospital-on-market-at-780-000-1.2930239

' Us ' The people of Ireland are paying his wages and he's doing nothing to help homelessness and to criticise Celebrities volunteers etc and calling us all SUCKERS He should resign because he's incapable of Being in Charge as he's not doing his job

We live in different parts of Ireland, in communities both urban and rural, that experience the housing crisis in lots of different ways. By organising together in our own local communities we can help grow the swell of public support to homelessness once and for all. Our politicians all have to take responsibility for the housing crisis. We can pressure them to make this their top priority for 2017. They would like to Apollo House as a one off action and to wash their hands of any responsibility that led to the occupation. Together we can show them that Apollo house is a beacon for change and this struggle is from the bottom up.

We live in different parts of Ireland, in communities both urban and rural, that experience the housing crisis in lots of different ways. By organising together in our own local communities we can help grow the swell of public support to homelessness once and for all. Our politicians all have to take responsibility for the housing crisis. We can pressure them to make this their top priority for 2017. They would like to Apollo House as a one off action and to wash their hands of any responsibility that led to the occupation. Together we can show them that Apollo house is a beacon for change and this struggle is from the bottom up.

We live in different parts of Ireland, in communities both urban and rural, that experience the housing crisis in lots of different ways. By organising together in our own local communities we can help grow the swell of public support to homelessness once and for all. Our politicians all have to take responsibility for the housing crisis. We can pressure them to make this their top priority for 2017. They would like to Apollo House as a one off action and to wash their hands of any responsibility that led to the occupation. Together we can show them that Apollo house is a beacon for change and this struggle is from the bottom up.

This bill will facilitate evictions, increase the power of landlords to evict tenants, & allow developers to build without any real regulation or consultation. What the Bill will do: - Give landlords the right to evict tenants if they feel they could charge more to new tenants. - Allow landlords to evict households who have been in their home and community for over 4 years with no extended notice. - Increase homelessness and put almost 25% of the population under constant threat of eviction. - Allow An Bord Pleanála to privately develop plans with private developers without public consultation. This will lead to unsuitable, untenable and unfinished housing developments nationwide. - Allow for developers to be compensated by up to €10,000 if their planning applications are delayed - an obscene waste of public money. We are in the grips of the worst housing crisis Ireland has seen in a century. However, there are 5,000 empty homes across South Dublin alone. This bill does nothing to tackle the problem of vacant properties, which affects every part of the country. This Bill directly steals from the pockets of a public struggling to keep their homes, to give to private developers and landlords. . This Bill is an obscene affront to the most basic right to a home, and is an insult to the thousands of families and individuals homeless and living on the streets and in cramped hotel rooms nationwide.

It is us, the public, who fund RTE. We do not want our money spent giving a platform to the racist and bigoted Katie Hopkins on the Late Late Show. Hopkins has compared refugees fleeing for their lives to 'cockroaches'. She has said she would use gunships to stop migrants. She is a 'professional troll' and we believe her appearance on RTE is a disgusting attempt by our national broadcaster to drive up viewer numbers with cheap attacks on individuals who have no public voice. Hopkins is not representative of any group and has no right to be given a platform in this manner. We are calling on all Irish people with a sense of social justice to boycott the Late Late Show and sponsors unless RTE withdraw their invite to Hopkins. Some horrible comments made by Hopkins include: "Show me pictures of coffins, show me bodies floating in water, play violins and show me skinny people looking sad. I still don't care.” "Would I employ you if you were obese? No I would not." "Suicidal prisoners should just kill themselves". According to RTE’s guiding principles outlined in RTE’s Public Service Statement, RTE must maintain the highest standards of quality and also ensure to uphold the democratic values enshrined in our Constitution in fulfilling its public service objectives. Katie Hopkins has made numerous inflammatory and deeply offensive remarks in relation to a range of minority groups including refugees, Gypsies and Travellers, the disabled and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Her appearance has the potential to incite racial hatred in Ireland. We want her removed from the schedule of the Late Late Show and we commit to boycotting the show and the sponsors if she is not cancelled immediately.

We all have a right to adequate access to drinking water. The UN has told the Irish state that according to international human rights law, all levels of government are under an obligation to provide urgent measures, including financial assistance, to ensure access to affordable housing, and essential levels of drinking water and sanitation services.

As Welfare Officer in DCUSU, I have received endless complaints of Academy Walk Management and Lettings Ltd keeping €500 deposits if a student backs out, despite having a waiting list, and providing extortionate fines for ludicrous instances. These include taking a resident's bike claiming that he parked it on private property, charging €100 fine for having a can of Coke and a packet of cigarettes on the ground for a 'fire hazard' and charging up to €500 for having friends over at a variety of times. All provided by students in emails and reviews on Google. It started with keeping the deposits ''because they can''. It escalated with the unnecessary and extortionate fines. We the students are not here to fuel the pockets of the rich and demand better. We demand that Academy Walk Management and Lettings Ltd end operations in Hazelwood and that the landlords operating under their services go to a more student friendly service such as Mike Harrington Property Management immediately.

The people of this community have the lowest density of green space in the state. The council refuse to discuss their plans for the site and intend to sell the land to developers. They are threatening to close a Community Garden which is thriving by delaying the allocation of allotments to residents of the Community that have applied. The area is socially deprived and has .7 % of green space per resident when the World Health Organisation recommends 9% per resident pet community.

For many years now property prices in our local area have escalated beyond belief. For many years there has been no provision of social or affordable housing in our area and regular local people with regular jobs are unable to buy houses in our community. New local developments such as Bolands Mill offer no affordable or social housing as the government allowed the developers to buy back the 10% social housing they should have provided! We as a community need to address this local housing crisis and fight for people of all ages in our community so that we are able to remain living close to our networks of support.

NAMA owns Lynams hotel in the middle of O'Connell St. This 47 bed hotel currently hosts many homeless families as 'Emergency Accommodation' -- a last resort for families hit by economic evictions with nowhere else to go. It could host many more -- every single day families are refused and sent to 'self accommodate' which means they have to source their own hotel by phoning every hotel in the city. Lynams hotel can hold more than 40 families and ensure none of these children are left on the streets. NAMA want to privatise this hotel, selling it back to speculators and developers at a huge discount so they can make huge profits from us again. We wont let this happen! Join our fight for a better city, against homelessness, against privatisation, against rent increases and against elite corruption.

Its important because it will encourage dumping. The bin system is fine. Taxes are being put on ordinary people who are already doing their best to help with the rubbish by putting them into bins already as well as recycling their products. Its not right to impose such charges. We are being forced to pay a polluters charge how dare they. Its the shops have to reduce this packaging on products sold in their shops as we are paying for it now.

Johns Lane West and Brú Aimsir hostels give shelter to almost 150 people who are former rough sleepers in Dublin. They are both set to close in the coming weeks. This will result in the loss of 150 beds for those sleeping rough. Focus Ireland and Peter McVerry Trust who currently run the hostels have not revealed how they plan to accommodate these people who will be forced back onto the streets with the closure of these hostels. The residents have been told they must ring the freephone in Parkgate St to find alternative accommodation. With an already critical shortage of beds, this will only put added strain on a flawed system which puts people in direct competition with each other, having to spend all day trying to get through to the freephone phoneline, often to simply be told there are no beds available. The Irish Housing Network demands: Dublin City Council, Peter McVerry Trust and Focus Ireland put a transparent plan in place with the residents of the hostels in providing suitable accommodation for those affected by the hostels’ closure. Long term social housing stock is immediately turned over for homeless people and families through the building of housing and opening and refurbishment of empty homes. Tenant’s rights for those in emergency accommodation so they cannot be evicted without notice and are protected under tenancy legislation. Rights for Travellers and Roma people in the ability to practice their culture and have well maintained and provisioned sites available throughout the country, including the restoration of traditional roadside stopping places.

Ireland is facing an unprecedented housing crisis - one that has been driven and worsened by private developers who work for profit, not the public good. Now, yet again, our council is seeking to fix the housing crisis by giving handouts to developers. Under the current Dublin City Council Housing Land Initiative, public land in three sites across Dublin will be turned over, free of charge, to private property developers. The proposal depends on high-interest finance. Banks, not the public, will benefit from this model that is based, at best, in a naive faith in the efficiency of privatization or, at worst, in cronyism. Cross-subsidized housing is a sustainable alternative where local government develops housing directly. Rent is based on ability-to-pay, and tenants benefit from rents that are below market rate, and enjoy security of tenure should their fortunes change. Similar schemes already operate successfully in Vienna and Singapore. Please sign our petition to call on Dublin City Council to support this sustainable model for public housing, not the giveaway of public land.

Twelve percent of the population of Ireland are migrants, of whom so many have the right to vote. Migrants bring enterprise and initiative, and in order to actively participate in Irish society, migrants must be visible in all spheres of Irish life and be represented proportionally to our number in the Irish population in all decision making processes. Irish political actors have done little or nothing to reach out to immigrants during elections. Integration has dropped off the radar and from the programmes of all political parties. A diverse republic needs inclusive politics and institutions that reflect the composition of a diverse society. Government bodies and local authorities need to do much more to engage with immigrant communities. We, the Migrant-Led Coalition, are calling on all politicians and candidates to sign up to our election manifesto and pledge to represent the needs of their migrant constituents.

The Department of Social Protection is meant to be responsible for fighting homelessness, not making conditions even more unbearable for rough sleepers in Dublin city centre. The recent installation of anti-homeless devices at the Department office building on Amiens street is an unacceptable measure, described in the following terms by the Director of Inner City Helping Homeless (ICHH) Anthony Flynn: "[From] the department that is supposed to look after our vulnerable people...This the most unsympathetic way of dealing with the homeless crisis, it's a 'not in my doorstep attitude' and we certainly condemn it." Accountability, however, has been lacking in the responses of both the Department of Social Protection and the Office of Public Works, which apparently manages the building in conjunction with a private landlord. But it's time for government to stop shirking responsibility. An Tánaiste Joan Burton is also Minister for Social Protection, and TD Simon Harris is Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works. Let's call on them to take action against this appalling measure, and to advocate immediately for the removal of all anti-homeless devices from Gandon House.

Last Friday on one of coldest nights of the year, 17 families were evicted from a Traveller local authority halting site that had been decommissioned by Louth County Council. Families were given just hours to pack their belongings and either remove their caravans or mobile homes themselves or face them being impounded and having to pay €1,000 to get them back. All families, including a mother and newborn baby, must be gone by tomorrow. The council have not arranged alternative accommodation for these families and now, they like hundreds of others will be made homeless. Until Traveller specific accommodation is built, we are calling on Louth County Council to treat people with dignity and respect and to provide alternative accommodation for the Travelling community of Woodland Park.

I have just read a report detailing the appalling and disgusting conditions under which homeless families in Ireland have to live. Yesterday I read about the conditions in the temporary refugee camp at Calais in France, which is run under the auspices of the French and UK governments and the EU. The conditions for the homeless in Calais and the homeless in Ireland are horrifyingly similar. Yet the Irish Government is pleading that it has no funds available to intervene and is sticking rigidly to its market economy addiction. This is not good enough when our Government is willing to throw money at bankers and developers and any johnny-come-lately who has robbed the people and contributed to the enforcement of the austerity regime. The Government's inept handling of our housing crisis is a contributory factor to the increase in anti-refugee sentiment in the country. This is cowardly behaviour on the part of those who claim to lead Ireland and who boast about what they claim to have done for Ireland. Front up for the sake of the unfortunate people who are suffering and set an example in 2016.

BECAUSE IT IS, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WAITING ON TROLLIES EVERY DAY.